Flames
by Fallynleaf
Summary: Before the invasion, before Ichigo, Kisshu loved someone else. Pity she was destined to die.
1. Chapter 1

_Before I was Kisshu, alien invader of Earth, I was just one among many of a peace-loving race determined to make the best of our pitiless and hazardous planet. My race honestly had no thoughts of reclaiming the old planet until _it_ happened. _

_Then it was too late. So many lives had been torn apart that doing _nothing _simply wasn't an option._

_One single spark to light dry wood and the whole thing catches flame. _

"Kisshu!"

I turn to face her, feeling a smile twitch into place.

"Everyone is waiting, and a storm is approaching. It's either now or wait until wind season!" She says, brushing off my smile like it had never occurred.

"Fine. I'll come and participate in your childish games."

I follow behind a few paces, admiring the strands of red hair escaping her ponytail and the whole ironic cheerfulness emitted even from her grey cloak. Not once has there been a day when she couldn't brighten my mood by just being present.

"Kisshu, you better not have outgrown us." She mutters, severing my daydreaming.

"I will never outgrow you, Aka." I dare.

She laughs, letting a blush creep up her cheeks.

We approach the usual spot during a game of tag, apparently the rest of the children had gotten bored waiting for us, and started anyway.

"The brown-haired girl over there is It, and she's faster than you'd expect, so be wary." A tall alien wearing an orange bright enough to melt the snows of Ice season mutters to me. I guess he could be considered my friend, but I would rather that remain just between the two of us. 'Neighbor' is my preferred label when used in correlation with my own name.

"Kisshu, you aren't stuck in a dirty fantasy involving Aka, are you?" he whispers, cutting off my musings.

"And what if I am, Tachibana?"

He pushes me away with a grin.

"Well, now you're It."

I roll my eyes and chase after Aka, wanting more than anything for it to just be a game between the two of us, and not the weather or a single being there to disturb us. Of course, storms will always be there, and when there's not any danger Aka will be with the others, never letting the dreary climate destroy her.

"Okay, everyone! We'll have to continue some other time!" Aka says, breaking off the game. The youngest head toward their mothers and the rest of us gather in one of the side caves to wait out the storm.

"Let's play a different kind of game." I start, feeling a bit of courage nip at my heart.

"Pretend we're at a different place, one where the storms can get bad, but only rarely, and the above ground is where people live freely, filled with bright colors and sunlight." I feel my voice falter, but find the courage again to continue.

"This is a world where you don't have to live in shades of grey, where you can play in broad daylight without the fear of death. What is the first thing you'd do?" I finish, turning to face Aka.

"I'd go find a flower." Aka says firmly. "I've never seen one before, but they sound so pretty…" she stares at the ceiling and runs a hand along stone.

"Why would you need a world like the one you mention?" a girl asks. "This one is nice in its own ways; the beauty of rainfall after a terrible thunderstorm, or the brief moment of sunlight through the clouds when snow covers the above ground." Her blue eyes reflect her question at me, daring me to find a way to challenge her logic.

"This is a world where you get the gentle rain and not the fearsome tempest, sunlight shines for the whole day and the next as well. You can sit among a whole bunch of flowers whenever you want." I flick my eyes to Aka and she grins at me.

"When there is no danger, the joy won't ever feel the same."

"Happiness does not depend on sadness."

"When there is no heat or cold, what do you feel? Nothing. For one defines how the other feels."

"Hot and cold are physical, happiness and sadness are emotions."

"Love and hate are emotions. Passion is passion, it can go either way, so for it to exist, both love and hate must exist as well." The unsettling gaze of her eyes bore through my own. My response dies before leaving my mouth.

"Do not want what you cannot have, for greed turns you blind to the true worth of what you do possess until it is lost. By then it will be too late, and no matter how much you will wish it, you will not be able to go back." Adverting her gaze pointedly away from me, she takes a few steps out of our sanctuary and stares at the electricity shimmering in the sky.

"Tsuki! What are you doing! It's dangerous to go out in this!" I hear Aka call to her friend, always wanting the best for everyone.

Without showing that she heard, Tsuki walks into the dead center of the area, staring through the crevice in the ceiling at the brawling thunderclouds. I can see fear flicker in her eyes before she closes them tight and steadies her breathing. White light shatters before our eyes, the crackle rolling through our bodies and sending her night-black hair rippling behind her like a ribbon held in a wind.

Stillness sweeps her backwards, but she doesn't fall, trembling in relief that it had missed. None of us can quite breathe yet, but Aka grabs my shoulder to steady herself.

"See how close I came to death? It whispered throughout my veins and held me still for a brief moment before evaporating into air just as fast, no, faster, than it had arrived. Without this threat, life doesn't seem as precious, or as temporary. I cannot stare through the cracks at the stars without feeling glad to have survived. Isn't that a kind of happiness too?" Tsuki turns and walks out of sight.

"Let's play a different game, one without impossible dreams or pain." Aka says, facing her other two friends instead of me. We start an innocent word game, and fill up the breaks between thunder with laughter, but I can't entirely tear my thoughts away from the 'other' planet.


	2. Chapter 2

_I was a naïve child then, blown away by thoughts of somewhere better, safer. In truth, a paradise._

_The warning so carefully painted didn't fully register as true. Yet._

Petals are stuck in my hair. Running my fingers through it helps a bit, but a few more swiftly take the places of the ones I free.

Darn it.

"Kisshu, you look funny" A hand caresses my cheek and ever so softly moves up to my hair and plucks the remaining petals away. "Though flowers go well on you."

My eyes close, and I fall to my knees upon soft, grass-carpeted ground. Sound flows across the wind, murmuring nonsense in my ear. Warmth licks my exposed skin and purrs, content, in my heart.

"Don't sleep yet, Kisshu, let's play a game!" her hand molds to mine and brings me back to my feet, then our grasp is broken, and red gown aflutter, her slight figure sweeps the flowers aside as she runs. Instinct propels me after, and my face pulls into a smile.

"I'll hide, and you find me!" the red gown catches a bit of stray light, then disappears.

My pace slows and I scan my surroundings, searching.

"It's not that hard of a place to find, Kisshu, just look a teensy bit harder…" Again, I run, because she's not there, not anywhere. The sun's glare burns my skin under its excruciating gaze.

"I'm here, you dummy!" A slew of new petals join the flock building in my hair as a leaping body disrupts them. Arms envelop me, flooding me with a gentle heat once again. Too soon we are apart, and her hands take mine in a dance, ecstasy building, then flowing free around us.

Suddenly somnolent, the dance brings us down and our eyes are drawn to the clouds, untainted by thunder and as white as the feathers of a dove. The flowers sway to the harmonized beating of our hearts, timeless and beautiful.

"Um… Kisshu? You'd better get up." A voice mumbles in the distance.

"Like, now!"

I flip upright.

"Ta…chi…bana… What?" I rub my eyes and barely suppress a yawn.

"It's Valentine's Day and again, everyone is waiting for you. Hey, Aka! Help me get this lazy-head up!"

At once I am wholly awake.

"Right… the ship."

"Uh… yeah. Duh. What else were we planning on doing today?! Defiantly not sleeping, for sure. You're pretty boring asleep, Kisshu."

"Sorry. I was having a great dream."

"…"

"There were flowers everywhere… And the sun was shining and it wasn't windy. Well, it was a little windy, but-"

"This is your 'other' planet, right? Kisshu, get your head out of the flowers and back here where I can keep it from going where it shouldn't!" He gives me an exaggerated eye roll.

"Kisshu, you sleep too much!" Aka calls as we approach. "They're opening it up for anyone who wants to see today, and I can't wait!" I vaguely remember debating whether or not to go, Aka, Tsuki, and her other two friends all for it, Tachibana undecided, and me somewhat opposed. Of course I ended up consenting, it's one more chance to spend time with Aka, even if we're just are taking a dull tour of machinery. Human machinery, at that. Where do they come by so much human junk?

First, unfortunately, we must get past the wealthy side of the city. Aliens lucky enough to be born with wealth, those snagged by greed, large business owners, my mother… all of the people that seem so far away, in a different world, even, from the puny community where I was born, and left behind. No simple caves form shelters from weather, but sturdy buildings built for comfort. Real toys fill the hands of the children, whom in turn fill safe pens and houses.

Tsuki stares straight ahead, locking away her curiosity, but Tachibana, Aka and I let our eyes grow wide and engulf everything around us in mute respect for what we'll never get to have.

Imposing buildings line a hollow circle, the middle containing a sleeping beast that, biding its time, waits until its unwary prey draws near. We all freeze, I think, except Tachibana, who had happened to be staring behind him. It doesn't even take him a second to focus his own eyes upon the gleaming hide of the metal beast.

"They just leave it out in the open like this?" Aka says.

"Um… they're giving tours today. I think the gates are usually closed to the public." Tachibana replies snidely.

I can't stop myself and shoot a glare at his smirking face.

"Come on!" Aka calls to us.

We approach timidly, taking in all of the smooth contours and jagged metal parts. Arm outstretched, Aka's trembling fingers brush the ship's side.  
"This is going to far… the Human Research Corporation is insane." Tsuki hisses.

"Hey! Poor people! What are you doing here?! Lost your way fleeing form a storm?" an irksome voice jibes.

Aka whirls around, tightening both hands into fists.

"That's not nice! Take it back." She says to the alien, who is now revealed to be a small, red-haired kid with a voice that could pass for a girl's. Standing behind him is a tall, stoic man, whose hard stare stops Aka before she could say anything more.

"Taruto. Don't waste your time. "

"Pai, you're not much better, leave me alone already!" He snaps at back. "And hag, answer my question!"

My dragon swords are in my hands suddenly, and I lunge. A dagger meets my attack, and pushes me against the metal ship. I twist out and slam the weapon to the human junk, bitterly aware of the jagged scar left engraved in the metal. Tachibana's whip curls around Taruto's wrist and yanks it forward, tearing the dagger out of his hand.

"Leave it. You're outnumbered." Tachibana says, more ice in his voice then I'd ever heard before.

Silent (finally), Taruto turns and walks brusquely away, his shadow, Pai, follows behind.

"We should get out of here, too." I say, pointing at the scratched metal.

"Go on ahead, I'll be right there." Tachibana says. We waste no time in getting as far away as possible.


	3. Chapter 3

_I was an idiot. Love can never best hate._

_Wrong._

_Wrong._

_WRONG!_

Running feels good when there is no purpose. A sense of freedom sings through your veins and vibrates your entire being. This feeling courses through me now.

"Kisshu, have you seen Tachibana? He seems to be plotting something…" Aka asks as she matches my pace.

"Nope, dunno where he could be." I say. I could care less about him. It's just me and Aka now, and I see no reason to change that.

"Okay…" She pauses. "Well I think we should look for him."

My feedom dissipates, and I stop abruptly. An emerald beast claws my heart raw and steals control over my tongue. From somewhere else, it seems, I bite out a response, unable to keep it caged away.

"Why does he matter, he's not here." Envy enflames me, incinerating common sense.

"Why do your friends matter? Try living without them. See how much harder it is."

My feet fall in step with her. I'll go, Aka, if that's what you want.

Of course the first place we look is the _other_ side. Neither of us had seen him return from there yet.

Smoke billows out of a building in the near distance, encasing us in a bitter, foul-smelling haze. We break once more into a run. There is a scream. And a curse. Still, we approach the danger.

Pai stands before the building, a tongue of flame curling against its blackened sides. He glares at us, bringing a tear forth from Aka's eye.

"How could you leave Taruto, your own cousin, inside there?! How, you selfish pig!" She turns to slowly face me, then leans over and presses her lips to my cheek, wrapping her arms around me in deep embrace. The embrace of a farewell. Her lips mouth three words: I love you.

"No! Aka, don't!" we fall apart and she rushes through the arch of flame that was previously a door, entering the maw of the hellish inferno. I leap to follow and an arm of steal snakes around me and restrains my advance. I struggle, blindly, in vain. Dragon sword comes and slashes, drawing my own blood as well as the blood of my captor. That arm, too, is caught and restrained.

Fire swells and falls, twists and contorts, writhing into shapes out of my nightmares and images snatched from dreams. It snarls at us, maddened, and rampages on, weakening, then collapsing, the back of the house. I stare into its deepest pits and my eyes fill in a flower, show me each leaf crumble into dust and shatter the soft petals into black ash. Crimson blood slithers down my arm and joins the blaze, tendrils flaring up in acceptance of my offering.

Blood.

Pain.

Fire.

Aka, my love, come back to me.

My hand tears free, unleashing a new splatter of blood. I don't care, can't care. Colors wriggle and form anew, my vision blurs at the edges then reshapes harsher. Silence fights a never-ending battle with flame. Then a body stumbles out and my hope is revived.

Taruto.

There is no second person, no other survivor. And the whole house collapses with a final sigh.

"No! Aka!" I screech, freeing myself and tossing wood, still aflame, aside. Adrenaline courses through my every fiber, fueled by an empowering hate. But even I, half-maddened and not quite sane, cannot break free a second time.

I fall limp in the arms of whoever is holding me back, staring at the last of the flames amongst ash.

So much destruction, too much to bear.

"Kisshu… She died well, I think." Taruto says from somewhere behind me.

"She found me and led me out, almost reaching the exit until a piece of wood falls on her leg. She was yanking it free as she yelled at me to continue on, telling me that she'd be right behind me… I believed her." He finishes quietly, almost a whisper.

For many minutes everything lies festooned in silence and regret.

A voice comes from behind, a shout.

"It was her, Doku! That girl is obviously not right in the head, and she can start fires!"

I turn my head a bit to see a girl with chains clasped around both wrists being dragged away. In her eyes lies an unfathomable pain, and her head slightly shakes a 'no'. I want to believe, to find an object to focus my wrath on, but that girl was not the one who started the fire. My heart tells me that, and I cannot find enough evidence to refute it.

Aka is no longer alive. All that remains of her existence are ashes and scars in our hearts.

We searched, through all of the rubble that remained, but found naught. Tachibana and Tsuki, and a few of Aka's other friends had appeared at some time or another, and they too joined our fruitless search.

My heart lies in battered shards beyond repair. Sword.

Blood.

Pain.

Fire.

I plunge the bloodied sword into my heart.

Tachibana hits it out of my hand before it strikes true, however.

"Idiot! There is _never _going to be a time where you can do that, okay?! Plus, Aka would hate to see you kill yourself for her." A line used so many times, yet effective. Staring dully at him, I sift through my feelings to try and attempt a response. Of course, it doesn't help when the loudspeaker, which has never been used in my lifetime, blares loudly in my ears.

"There has been a grave disaster. Everyone knows of the fire that spread throughout our community and right into the next, and I'm sure everyone has lost a loved one…"

Aka…

"…to become a part of the mission to take back the planet so cruelly stolen by the filthy humans, report to the Master."

Mechanically, I walk to the place that all know of, but few ever get to enter in person. Just barely am I aware of Taruto and Pai trailing behind. I'll get you your flower, Aka.

_I loved Aka. Her death turned what remained of my heart into something else entirely. Scars on my arms and legs, concealed by bandages, remained hidden for a long time after the fire. I kept them in remembrance for Aka, and in fear that they too would be revealed as the ones in my heart already had been. My whole being built up a barrier to my hurt, obscuring the fractured person I truly was with fake sarcasm and lacing it with ice._

_Then I saw _her. _Ichigo. She_ was_ Aka, in a way, both by looks and personality. I gave her the kiss that should have belonged to Aka, but it was from a different Kisshu, not the one locked up within a wall of grief. And against every grain of will I possessed, I fell hopelessly in love with her._

_Now I know who truly started the fire._

_Tachibana._

_He got his revenge for Taruto, yes, but he couldn't control the fire once it was so innocently conceived. _

_I felt a stab of pain when he told me, yes. But Aka is still here. Amongst the fields of flowers, and within every breath of wind I can feel her. And I have Ichigo._


End file.
